Bumble Bee Talk by Dr Nikki Gammans

About

There are around 250 species of bee in the UK with many more worldwide but they are complex creatures with some subtle variations and, like us, they go bald as they mature, making identification even harder. Dr Nikki Gammans, who runs a bumblebee identification course, is trying to reintroduce the short haired bumblebee to the British Isles; it was declared extinct here in 2000 with the last recorded sighting in Dungeness in 1988. The project is a combination of habitat regeneration, education and controlled reintroduction from Sweden. It is still early days but working with local landowners has already shown improvements for other bees: England's rarest bumblebee, the shrill carder bee, has returned to the Dungeness area after a 25-year absence and the large garden bumblebee has come back after ten years. Nikki has been invited to host a talk about the different types of bumblebees and the current progress of her project